This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art, which may be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present techniques. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
In the field of processor-based computer systems, it may be desirable for information to be transferred from a computer system to another computer system via a network. Computer networks may be arranged to allow information, such as files or programs, to be shared across an office or any geographic boundary. As an aspect of efficiently maintaining the exchange of information, computer systems in a network may include various security systems, such as programs or devices, to prevent unauthorized intrusions or attacks from outside sources. These security systems, for example, may prevent attacks from malicious or unknown code that corrupt data and programs stored on the computer system.
To maintain the security of a computer system, remotely accessible computer systems, such as servers, may rely on locally defined lists of users and passwords to perform such authentication and access control. Network administrators may maintain these lists on multiple systems, and users often keep track of separate accounts and passwords. Accordingly, these security systems may include a footprint of code within the read only memory (ROM), which may be a signed certificate. However, the size of the footprint may be quite large in some situations, such as web access.
Accordingly, it may be desirable to minimize the performance impact by providing security protection to the central processing unit (“CPU”) of a computer system. For example, when access is attempted from a location not directly affiliated with the computer system, there may be no assurances of the actual identity of the user absent rigorous authentication.